Raiya gently brushed Nemo's hand aside with the back of her right hand, and frowned slightly.

"Well, if Felix was so eager to cut ties before, what makes you think he wouldn't do the same thing should you have to exercise your little insurance policy?" Raiya asked.

"Eager? I wouldn't say that. I'm sure it was a great loss, a loss he wouldn't like to endure twice. The things which prevented him in the past are now gone as well. He's an apostate now." Nemo replied.

"But, I could always be wrong, maybe you're right. I don't really mind either way." Nemo confessed.

"I think it's time for me to get going," Nemo noted as he looked up to the sky. "if you've got anything final to say, I'm listening, otherwise I look forward to our next conversation." Nemo finished as he began to walk back to the dirt path.

While the truth did seem horrible, it was still the truth which felt more than what most gave her.

"I hate you... But thank you for telling me the truth." Raiya confessed, "Good luck out there." Was the last thing she said before turning back and walking towards the cabin.

Just as he had cleared the stairs and entered into lobby, the voice of Zoey grabbed Travis' dazed attention. She had pontificated what seemed to be a quote of sorts from what he could understand anyway. While he was not taking a kind to the poetic choice of words, Travis admitted they at least had merit in describing his declined hygienic state.

"Let's hope that I did find all the pieces lest we risk a opening a black hole..." replied a perturbed Travis as he found and collapsed into an adjacent couch from Zoey's and began staring to the ceiling, "How I'm doing? Well. To say the least; completed our big Paragon containment project...I think...I swear I'm seeing glyphs now that aren't there. What about...you?"

Travis was initially going to return Zoey's well-being inquiry back to her but as he turned tiled his head to face her direction, what he found instead wasn't Zoey, or at least not the Zoey he remembered for the past few days. What casually laid in the opposite sofa before him was a near-animalistic feminine body; exhibiting purplish skin and fur and toping off with large wolf-like ears and a tail. Despite the bestial appearance that had now caught Travis by surprise, he couldn't ascertain any hostile intent though likely due to the woman's familiar lazy posture.

Perhaps this is Zoey, Travis surmised to himself as he continued to stare in awe at her but remained still, awaiting a response and possibly and explanation.

Zoey shrugged, "About normal for someone like me. After I got the lay of the land anyway. Lots of putting away things-that-go-bump-in-the-night." She turned her mask over in her hands: In honesty, most conversations with her didn't last this long. Maybe a sentence before the hypothetical person saw her and fled. So, so far, a successful engagement into social entanglement. She levitated from the kitchen a tea kettle she'd been boiling earlier and some cups, and set them on the table. A parlor trick, really, but useful. She poured herself a cup and snapped. Instantly, the steaming liquid changed into what looked like hot chocolate, though before it was a peach tea. Again, a simple illusion spell. She hated tea, but it was beneficial to drink. After a quick sip, she laid back into the chair and observed Travis. He honestly looked a bit like a cowboy without the hat, or the six shooter. It probably didn't help that he was in bad shape.

She took his cup and dumped the regular tea packet out, pulling out one of her pouches. She opened the soft, satin pouch and took out a pinch of purple petals that gloo very faintly and placed them in a small steel ball that was also in the pouch. She put that in the cup, and poured the boiling water in. The result was a water that was slowly growing more, and more purple over time. She set that in front of him, and went back to the couch to study her the state of her hands.

"Now that you mention it, though," she continues, "There was a particularly large spider in one of the caves that gave me some trouble. It wasn't tough perse, just fast on it's, errr, claws. Knicked my hand here," she tapped on the space between her thumb and pointer. "Still, it's taken care of.

Turning halfway back, Nemo gave a wave to Raiya. "I'll do my best." He called back. He wasn't sure if he should feel good or bad about what she said, but figured it was a start.

Nemo trekked through the redwood forest while whistling a tune for himself. Nemo traveled further and further away from the cabin and back towards civilization. It was the first time he had been truly alone since being freed from his imprisonment, and Nemo was surprised he was allowed to go alone, unrestrained.

He eventually came upon a small unoccupied ranger outpost, fitted with just what he was looking for, a small off-road vehicle. It was some sort of vintage jeep from the looks of it. With the sun going down Nemo sadly didn't have the time to waste to see all of the forest on foot. He jimmied the door to the outpost open, still whistling a tune as he shuffled through drawers and cabinets till he found the keys to the vehicle. "Bingo" He muttered.

Nemo walked back out, closing the door behind him and entered the jeep. He started the car and began to drive off on a dirt path. Why Nemo didn't just use his magic to start the car was a mystery. He seemed to purposely refuse to use the conveniences of magic to his benefit most of the time, instead opting to go for a more "authentic" route. Maybe the enjoyment Nemo drew from it came from the sense of normality it gave him.

The forest let up soon enough, reaching the limits of the Redwoods and crossing back to the city. Nemo left the jeep once he reached Cescent City and continued on foot. He spawned a black umbrella and unfolded it as he strolled along. While it only blocked a slight drizzle of what was coming down, the main purpose of the umbrella was to hide his appearance. He didn't seemed to be in much of a hurry, Nemo stayed away from large groups of people but always stopped every so often to admire scenery that caught his eye.

Despite the hold ups, Nemo arrived at his destination soon enough. A medium sized stone building stood before him with neon letters that spelled out "Cyrus' Cellar" coupled with a neon martini. After stepping inside the doorway Nemo folded his umbrella up. The entrance way had a similar layout Raiya's club had, the first door only led to a isolated hallway with a guard on the other side, standing by another door.

This time Nemo met the doorman in a more cordial fashion than the last time by passing him a stack of three silver coins once they met. The shades wearing brute responded by taking the currency and then touching the area to the side of the door with his palm. A feint magic glow enveloped the rims of the door. And once he opened it it led to the main room of the club. The guard seemed skeptical of Nemo, however likely didn't care enough to do anything about it.

The purpose of the guards spell was simple, should a normal person try to enter, they go through the door to a normal bar. However should someone provide evidence of having magic affinity, after activating the spell the door would lead to a totally different room, revealing the true purpose of the building. Cyrus' Cellar served as a magical safehaven.

After stepping inside Nemo freely despawned his umbrella. Few people resided in the club, it was what most people would describe as "quaint" or "old fashioned" with many wooden furnishings and various knick-knacks decorating the walls. Jazz music permeated the room from a jukebox off in the corner. Nemo stayed away from the residents and instead made his way up a spiral stairwell right off the bat, taking him to a small hallway of rooms. He walked over to the room all the way at the end and knocked on the door. For a area he clearly shouldn't be in there wasn't very much security to stop him.

"What is it Barry? I told you to not bother me unle-" A man called out from inside the room, and was cut short after he opened the door and saw Nemo. The man looked to be about forty-five, had combed back brown hair, a stubble, a blue sport shirt with the sleeves rolled up, worn light blue jeans, and some various jewelry. "Nemo... this is unexpected. You should still be in Mamertine." The man spoke, his tone quieting down to a near whisper.

"Indefinite imprisonment is a very lukewarm fate, Cyrus. Especially for somebody like me." Nemo commented as he stepped inside the room, letting Cyrus close the door behind him. "I'd love to tell you all about it, but I'm afraid I'm here on buisness today. That and I'm just dying for a drink."

Cyrus seemed to be humored by Nemo's words, but worried by what exactly he meant by 'buisness'. He walked behind his desk and pulled out a bottle of Tsipouro along with two shot glasses. He poured liquor into the two glasses and slid one over to the other side of his desk, where Nemo now sat. Cyrus immediately downed the shot before speaking. "So what is it you're after?" He asked.

"Simple, I need to use your warp portal. You're the only person I know around here who has one." Nemo explained, drinking his own shot of Tsipouro.

"My portal hasn't been in use since the Academia banned their students from using a third party to get to their campuses. Wasn't worth the mana-cost to keep it up. But then again, whole place took a hit from them cracking down on places like this. They were a pretty big portion of my customers and clientele." Cyrus replied with a sigh.

"But you still have it?" Nemo asked, using his pointer finger to slide a gold coin over to Cyrus' side of the table

Cyrus hesitated for a bit, clearly reluctant to answer. "...yeah, I've still got it."

"Splendid, let's get going then, I don't want to take too much of your time." He stated as he rose from his seat. "And the Tsipouro was lovely, Cyrus. Really takes me back to a night I spent in Crete."

Cyrus pocketed the gold coin and got up from his desk, he led Nemo out of his office and down the hallway to another room. He unlocked the door with a key he grabbed from his desk earlier and swung the door open. For the most part the room had been cleared out, visible dust could be seen on some parts of it. However some things still remained, one doorway in the middle of the room, clearly not leading anywhere, various runic markings etched into the walls and floor, and one dull mana crystal sitting atop a stand.

"Where do you need to be?" Cyrus walked up to the mana crystal and touched it with his finger. As he was in contact with it the dull crystal slowly began to light up, as well as all the runic markings around the room.

"Chicago, I'm a bit of a sightseer so I don't really mind where. As long as it's discreet." Nemo replied.

By the time Nemo had answered him, the runic markings had seemed to fully power up, the mana crystal was now buzzing with energy. Suddenly a holographic map of the world was projected by the crystal. Allowing Cyrus to navigate to where Nemo wanted to be. "Found one. At this time of the night, this portal should be unguarded, with a little elbow grease I should be able to access it." Cyrus stated.

After a couple moments of Cyrus fiddling with the display. He placed his hand on the crystal once more, sending more power to it and causing the edges of the doorway to glow with magic energy. "There, I can only keep this up for so long though. So I suggest you hurry your ass out of my bar before I change my mind halfway through. I'll have my portal be available through the night should you want to return. But you're gonna have to find a way to power your own station to get back." Cyrus explained.

Nemo gave a grin in response to Cyrus' words. He walked up to the door and opened it, despite being in the middle of the room the door led to a completely different dark building now. "You're a lifesaver, Cyrus." Nemo commented as he walked through.

"I have a feeling by doing this I've become the opposite." Cyrus stated.

Nemo let out an audible chuckle. "Don't be so dramatic." He finished, soon after the connection between the two shut off. Causing the portal to shrink into nothing. Nemo only stared through an empty doorway now.

---

Close to two hours had passed. It was pitch black out in the city of Chicago. The only thing that matched the darkness was the heavy rain which poured down. Nemo approached a poorly lit metal building not far off from the bay. There was a blue metal sign in the shape of a fish above it entitled "Ulysses Canning Co." in yellow. The whole area smelled of saltwater and fish.

Nemo held his umbrella above him to keep his clothes dry. The only major change in his wardrobe is that he switched jackets to a three-fourths length belted black trench coat. The coat was unbuttoned, with the belt hanging loose, likely so he could access his weapons concealed underneath the outer layer. After reaching the building Nemo was sheltered from the rainfall, so he de-spawned his umbrella.

The faint light radiating off the building's few light fixtures revealed another thing Nemo had with him; a heavily engraved Winchester Model 1897 16 gauge shotgun. All of the metal parts of the gun had been plated with silver with various floral engravings. The stock and pump had been entirely replaced with custom white ivory. This left the most peculiar part of the firearm. Attached to the barrel from the point where the magazine tube ended there was a engraved cylindrical silver suppressor. The suppressor extended to the point where the barrel would usually end, so it didn't extend the length. For someone like Nemo this accessory was likely invaluable.

Nemo held pump of the shotgun with his left hand and extended his right out towards the lock of the front door. He blasted it with a medium strength spell to break it and kicked the door open. The inside was just as dark as the outside, save for a 'secure' glass enclosed lit guard room across from the door. The guard inside was startled, but didn't know how to react. However as soon as he saw Nemo's not-so-inconspicuous firearm he hurriedly tried to get up from his seat.

That's when Nemo fired off the first shot, followed by two more rapidly slam fired into the room. The laminated glass had been ripped to shreds, but still remained in it's fixture. This didn't stop Nemo's attack however, a faint spatter of red could been seen coating the deeply mangled barrier. Nemo never stopped his stride while shooting, still walking towards the post and reloading his shotgun.

Nemo held out his right hand once more, pushing the shattered sheet of glass from the window inward with one powerful magically generated force. The guard was most certainly dead. He leaned into the window, analyzing the control panel stationed at the desk before pressing one of the buttons. Suddenly a fair sized section of the wall off to the right began to raise up.

Before the wall could fully raise up, another guard came into view. Rushing down the passageway with a spell already ready. Nemo was quick to react however. He shouldered his weapon and fired another shot at the guard. He was hit in the upper chest and neck, causing him to release the spell early. It veered off and ricocheted violently off the ground before colliding into the ceiling and dissipating. The guard stumbled and fell to the ground heavily, emitting a few gurgles from his neck-wound before succumbing to his demise.

Nemo began to walk down the passageway. He got a better look at the guard as he passed by. They wore mostly casual to upper class clothes and coats. No official uniforms, things definitely not expected of a fish canning office. But this wasn't any surprise to Nemo. The secret route he was taking was furnished and decorated nothing like the room before. It was neat, tidy, with warm dim lights. Some paintings even found themselves on the walls of this space. Something more reminiscent of a upper class hotel. The only thing off about it was that it was completely devoid of any windows.

More resistance quickly met Nemo during his warpath through the compound. After turning a corner he was nearly struck by a slim magic energy bolt, but dodged it by craning his neck to the side. Three mages had setup at the other side of the corridor. Two firing off spells with the third generating a wide magical barrier as a protective blockade.

Nemo retreated back behind the corner to escape the oncoming hail of magic spells. For most people this might mean the end of the road, but due to the magic nature of their defense, it was an easy fix for Nemo. He held up his gloved hand to his mouth and whispered an incantation into it. The X rune on his glove now glowed white. Nemo warped out from the cover of the corner and pitched his spell at the defenders like a baseball, laughing as he did so. Halfway to the barricade the small orb of white energy expanded into a large glowing X. It soared at the force-field with a distractingly high pitched whistling noise. It collided into the barrier with devastating effect, puncturing the shield effortlessly and exploding inwards directly at the guard generating it, killing him instantly.

The shield generator was blown to bits, but the other two remained. Nemo quickly warped close to them while they still reeled from the massive explosion. He knocked one of them to the floor with the silver butt-stock of his shotgun and fired into the other. Helpless to defend himself, the guard was hit in the chest. Blood spattered to the wall behind him before he fell back into it and limply slid to the ground, dead.

Nemo turned to the last guard, slam firing the remaining shells at him. The guard tried to block it with a small barrier, but after three hits the magic shield broke, he perished to the remaining shots. Finished with the gun, Nemo let go of it and caused it to de-spawn back to his inventory.

Before he could continue, another combatant appeared. He sent a small magic attack Nemo's way, which Nemo easily absorbed with his gloved hand. This was only a diversion, as the man had dashed to Nemo's side with a spell, and tried to stab him with a glowing runic dagger. Just before the blade came to puncture Nemo's coat and flesh, he grabbed the man's hand to divert the attack off to the side. Still holding the man's hand with a rock solid grip, Nemo pulled him into a viscous headbutt to daze him. He then swung him around and crashing into the wall, knocking the guard to the ground afterwards with a roundhouse kick from his boot.

Once the suited guard made his way back to his feet and tried to attack him with a ranged spell, Nemo drew his revolver and hammer fired four rounds off to gun him down before he finished the attack. After he felled his opponent Nemo spun the revolver back into it's holster and continued on.

Half a minute of travel brought Nemo to where he wanted to be. A more open area with a grand set of carved wooden doors leading to the final room. There was only one problem, a man was leaning up against the doors with his arms crossed. He was bald, and wore expensive dressy clothes. "I can't let you go any further." The man stated simply.

"Is that so?" Nemo replied in a monotone voice. He held his hand up to his mouth and whispered another incantation.

The man leaned off the doorway and took a few steps forward. "Let's get this over with." The bald man said, abruptly firing off three spinning discs of green energy.

"That's not fair, I was gonna say the same thing." Nemo replied, his face twisting into a sickening grin. He deflected the first disk with the back of his gloved hand, sending it into the wall to explode, then absorbing the following two. Something that surprised the bald guard. Nemo then spun around before releasing his own spell he prepared earlier.

It was the same summoning spell he had tried on Thadeus back at the cave. A black gooey energy mass expelled from his palm and at the ground, forming into a hideous misshapen manabeast. It quickly scurried along the ground towards the man with it's maw open.

Baldy attempted to deftly put a stop to the amalgamation by firing off two more of his discs. They exploded after hitting Nemo's creation, but didn't halt it's approach at all. The only difference is that it had puffed up a bit, it's core glowing a faint white. Despite the monster nearly reaching him, the man seemed unfazed. He clapped his together, causing two generated green barriers to collide together, forming one.

The bald man's reliance on energy based spells would be his undoing. As soon as the creature reached the barrier, it ate it's way through with it's maw like butter, only powering it further. The man stumbled back, "Impossible!" he yelled. Nemo's creature let out a ear piercing screech before reaching the man and detonating into a devastating explosion.

Dust, paper, furniture, and debris were thrown all about the room, spilling over into the hallway. Nemo himself was standing safely behind his own barrier. The white energy shield allowed him to see the gory details of his work unimpeded. Once the dust settled Nemo dropped his shield, finally reaching the end of his rampage.

Even through one of the doors had been blown completely off it's hinges from the explosion, Nemo chose to use the one still barely intact. He opened it, stepped inside the office, and even went through the trouble to close it behind him. It was a large luxurious office he found himself in, whoever ran it clearly had a taste for finer things. Even Nemo was impressed by some of the paintings he noticed in the room. There was one especially striking painting of a woman riding a tiger he saw.

Directly across from the doorway, behind a ornate wooden desk sat a man, probably about thirty years old, styled brown hair, wearing thick black rimmed spectacles, a buisness shirt, tie, and suspenders. He wasn't currently facing Nemo, instead he was looking back, eyeing multiple monitors of a security system. It showed the carnage Nemo caused in full. The man slowly swiveled his chair back to face Nemo, not saying a word.

Nemo approached the desk and sat down, he had the posture and body language of someone who knew nothing about what had transpired over the last twenty minutes. As if nothing had happened. He sat down and adjusted his coat. "...hi." Nemo started.

"I'm terribly sorry about the door," He added, looking back to it. "that was lovely craftsmanship, what a shame." Nemo said. "You must be Ulysses."

The man was hesitant to answer, but eventually gave in. "Y-...yes that's me. Ulysses Fahl." He confessed.

"And do you know who I am?" Nemo asked, rolling his nails on the tabletop.

Ulysses nodded. "Yes, y-you're Nemo Smiley."

"Wonderful. Tell me did you enjoy the show?" He continued, pointing to the security system. Nemo knew it was a rhetorical question, and after a few moments of Ulysses being too scared to answer he dropped his pleasant demeanor. "Do you know why I'm here?" He asked more sternly.

"...You're here to kill me"

"No!" Nemo snapped back. "If I wanted to kill you I would of done it by now, so that must mean I'm here cause I want to-?" He paused, letting Ulysses finish his sentence.

"You want something from me?" Ulysses guessed.

"I want to ask you something. And when you reply you're going to tell the truth. Don't lie... I'll know if you do. And if you do I'll hang you by those suspenders." Nemo explained.

"O-of course."

Nemo spun his swivel chair around in a circle as he talked. "I have it under good authority you've been meeting with two members of the church. I want to know allll about it."

"I'm a b-broker... a middleman. They approached me with an offer, a lot of fuckin' crystals, artifacts, all kinds of stuff worth a fortune on the market, all they wanted was the services of one of my associates. Seidon, Paul Seidon. When he heard what they wanted, he went for it right away. D-didn't even really care about payment."

"Captain Seidon, huh?" Nemo noted, suddenly stopping his chair from spinning with his foot. "And what is it they were planning?"

"I-I-I don't know. I just help with the money, you know? Paulie made it sound like they were trying to find something, some artifact. That's it, that's all I know I swear." Ulysses said, rather panicked.

"Oh I believe you Ulysses, you're doing well so far. Tell me, do you expect to be in contact with Mr. Seidon or any of those churchgoers anytime soon?" Nemo asked.

"J-just Seidon, I was expecting a call any minute actually. He was gonna check to see if the Churchies delivered on their end of the bargain. They paid upfront what they said they would, so I was gonna give him the go ahead. They planned to leave tomorrow in fact, about 4 PM on Seidon's ship." Ulysses explained.

"And where is their 'payment'?" Nemo asked.

"It's... it's right here, you can," Ulysses started as he leaned to the side of the desk. He suddenly jerked back up, holding a ornate gold plated sawed-off double barrel. "FUCKING TAKE IT!" He yelled, immediately discharging both barrels directly at Nemo from across the wooden desk.

Papers flew everywhere from atop Ulysses desk, his gun had quite the kick. Enough to push his rolling chair back a few feet. But what Ulysses now saw horrified him, Nemo still calmly sat in his chair, holding his gloved hand up. A white circle of energy, with runic symbols lining the outside, and one big X in the middle had completely stopped the pellets from hitting him. They were still safely lodged within the plasma. Nemo now wore a wicked grin on his face and let out a small giggle from behind his shield.

When Nemo dropped his hand, the shield immediately faded, causing the small pellets to harmlessly fall to the floor, some bouncing off the edge of Ulysses desk.

"That was very rude of you, Ulysses." Nemo only said before getting up from his chair.

"Shit!" He said, rapidly standing up and moving back. With his shotgun already expended he tossed it off to the side. Terribly panicked, Ulysses pulled his right pant leg up to reveal a small pistol holstered at his ankle. He stumbled while trying to fish it out, but didn't fall over. "Fuck!" Once he looked back up with his pistol at the ready, Nemo had already made it past his desk, right in front of him likely via his speed warp.

With fear in his eyes, he pulled the trigger, but as he did so Nemo pushed the gun away with his left hand, causing the gun to shoot off to the side, shattering some vase instead. He then punched him straight in the gut, causing Ulysses to bend forward and drop his gun from the force of the hit. Nemo followed up with a knee straight to Ulysses nose, sending him falling backwards harshly.

Ulysses rolled to his side on the floor, his nose now bleeding heavily. "Smarts, doesn't it? Getting slammed in the nose like that can really gentle you down some." Nemo commented. Ulysses slowly stumbled to his feet. "Wait! ...just wait a minute!" He pleaded with his hand out. "You can't fuckin' kill me... you need me to take that call. Otherwise Paulie is gonna know what's up, and the whole fuckin' thing is gonna get called off. Then what? Then you're FUCKED that's what!" Ulysses reasoned.

"Oh? Is that what you think?" Nemo asked with smile. He put his hand on his throat and massaged it with his three fingers, his eyes closed for a moment while it looked like he was trying to work out a kink in his neck. Though soon enough he opened them once more, staring at Ulysses. "I don't know about you, but I don't think Paulie is gonna be able to tell the difference." Nemo said, his voice now perfectly mimicking Ulysses. Nemo began to laugh afterwards, his voice cascading back to his own during the bout.

Terrified and knowing he was at a loss, Ulysses threw one last hail Mary attack at Nemo. "Potentia!" His fist glowed bright red as he swung at Nemo. But Nemo blocked the attack with his left palm, causing the red energy to fade without harm immediately. Nemo slowly rolled his fingers closed to tightly grip Ulysses' fist, and then roughly grabbed him by the face with his gloved hand. Nemo began to use his unique ability to siphon Ulysses' mana from him. Nemo ignored Ulysses' muffled pleading and forced him to his knees as he began to weaken from the drain.

Ulysses began to use his only free arm to blindly bat at Nemo as hard as he could, which seemed to have zero effect on him when it connected. He let out one last scream which soon weakened to a groan, and then his body abruptly went limp. Nemo let go of him, allowing his lifeless and now certainly mana-less body fall over with a thud.

Judging by the manawaves, no living thing was left in the compound besides Nemo himself. He adjusted his coat once more. Contorting his back and neck to the side until they let out a crack of relief. Nemo held his eyes shut during this and merely relaxed. However his zen mood was cut short when a faint buzzing noise emitted from Ulysses' body; his manadial was getting a call.

Nemo leaned over and pulled his sleeve up, letting him see the flashy piece he wore on his wrist. Nemo removed it and walked back to his desk. He pulled up Ulysses' personal chair back and sat down. Nemo placed the dial down the table and adjusted his throat again before pressing the crystal down to answer the call.

After a couple moments of silence, a gruff voice answered on the other line. "Ulysses, did Stockton bring the goods?" The voice sounded like a grizzly male, probably in his fifties.

"Oh yeah, those Churchies delivered. You've got the green light from my end Paulie." Nemo responded, using some of Ulysses' rhetoric from earlier.

"Good... that's good. If Stockton isn't blowing smoke, this trip could result in one of the most valuable finds we've ever encountered. I've waited my whole life for this chance. And now it's finally come." Captain Seidon spoke, seemingly not suspecting a thing from Nemo's impression.

"Come on Paulie, stop teasing me. What is it, what are you going all that way for? What's got you so eager?" Nemo asked, kicking his legs up on Ulysses' desk.

"A Paragon, Ulysses, the Paragon of Fantasia." Paul stated.

"A Paragon? ...but aren't those things just supposed to be legend? Even for us that stuff is sketchy." Nemo feigned ignorance.

"Yes, but I've always been a believer, legends have to start somewhere. And if anybody is going to find the Paragon Lost at Sea, it's going to be Captain Paul Seidon. It's the find of all finds, if Stockton says he can help me to it, then I'll humor him. Though if he wastes my time, I'll personally throw him off my ship and into the sea fer chum. 'Ole Bess is getting hungry after all." Seidon explained.

'Ole Bess? Nemo thought. "Sounds riveting, Paulie, really. You knock yourself out with that, I'll be back here counting all the doubloons they gave me. Even if they're crazy, they're at least crazy enough to fork over all this dough, and that's good enough for me any day of the week." Nemo finished.

"You never change, Ulysses... I have a lot of preparations to do. I wont speak with you again until I return. But by then end you'll either hear about my great triumph, or how the church lads met their watery end." Seidon finished, ending the call afterwards.

Things worked out quite swimmingly for Nemo. Even after such a long time off during his imprisonment, he proved he clearly hadn't grown rusty. Nemo removed his fingers from his throat and rose from his seat. He had a blank expression on his face, not even a hint of emotion crossed him as he made his way back out from the building. It was dead quiet as well, the only sound that was being emitted was Nemo's boots hitting the floor as he walked, and the tune he was humming to himself.

Zoey's direct and honest reply to his query wasn't quite the explanation he was looking for. It did indeed answer Travis' question though he had hoped for a follow-up that would have explained this new physical and natural identity. Nevertheless, he retained his calm demeanor during the matter, albeit perhaps not purposefully given his relatively passive state likely influenced by an overworked and tired mind.

"That must of been quite the arachnid. What cave did you visit?" Travis replied after being shown the extent of the healed scratch upon Zoey's hand. He pondered for a moment if she had visited the catacombs they ventured through earlier. It wouldn't be surprising if that was the place she came to. Then again as they were close by the Academia, the alternative could have been an escaped test subject; also not surprising.

His attention was briefly placed back to the luminous liquid within his cup, looking over it and gander upon the glittering contents of his untested. Travis merely guessed the herb she had added in was a unique replacement to tea mix she had rejected and interestingly portrayed some kind of chemical reaction to the heated water. Travis shook his head, believing himself to be overthinking things and took a small gulp.

The tea replacement would've tasted rather bitter and vaguely like black coffee, with the near-instant affect of making Travis feel less like he'd worked to near death, and more like he'd worked a fulfilling day at the gym, or some similarly less-tiring activity for the academic. Maybe, passed a challenging, but not hopeless, test. The alchemist smiled a little apologetically, "I forgot to ask if you'd prefer it to taste like, well, something better than really bad coffee. That's my bad."

She then thinks about which of the caves that spider had been in, "Well, it was on a cliff, and there was a waterfall near-ish. I can't say I know the name of it. I haven't really seen a map. Maybe if I had one I could point it out, but... Well, it looked like a bit of prime real estate for monsters. And with Academia so close, I'm sure something new will take up residence there soon," she looks a little annoyed. She withdraws into the couch, nursing her tea/hot chocolate beverage.

"Its quite alright," Travis replied upon taking another sip of the concoction. The taste of the herbal drink was indeed quite bitter and somewhat dry, devoid of any artificial sweetness yet soothing and particularly rich in its own natural splendor. Travis couldn't gauge the flavor but he did feel strangely revitalized and more alive than he was a day ago, "I don't mind it at all. I've had a few local teas in some of the South Americans towns before where they used native herbs and spices to make them. Some of them were a hit or miss for but they certainly kept me going."

Travis then eased into his couch and kept the warm cup close to him. Now that we was more focused and no longer thinking about his work he speculated the location of the waterfall and caves Zoey had visited. Using his own magic, he casted a projection spell and began to draw the entire region of Redwood and its known sites and basins as if they were on a detailed map, "Perhaps the more notable waterfall here would be Trillium Falls though I could name a few other close by like Berry Creek Falls here..and Silver Falls there..."

Travis then stopped and stared at the drawn-up map, "You know what? I haven't even figured out where we are on the map."

Zoey shrugs, "Where ever we are, it's pretty nice. Anyway, I'm gunna go hi the rec room again." She gets up and stretches fully, gathering her things to her person. "You're free to join in the zombie blasting activities, but you may wanna try sleeping first. That stuff will keep you going, but it'll also run ya down. Same way that coffee does actually. It's just a lot stronger." She then walks downstairs to the rec room to enjoy the arcade raill shooter.

Raiya walked into the room and noticed Travis eyeing a map, she cocked her right eyebrow.

"Felix gave us manadials..." She said in a questioning manner, "So all you need to do is activate the geolocation feature." She pulled out her manadial from her pocket and tapped on the inlay crystal and a holographic map appeared hovering over the watch. A blue dot symbolizing their position appeared on the map. It seemed that they were southeast of Crescent City California about 20 miles above the interstate 101 highway.

That was when Felix walked in and noticed everyone gathered together.

"Ah yes, and if you were to go north 20 miles from here you would be at Academia." Felix stretched and checked his manadial blinking for a moment. "Well, it's 10:41, I'm going to bed, I've been up for way too long."

"That all?" The woman behind the counter sounded impatient, and her fingers were now drumming the hard plastic side of the register. He could see that her fourth finger had a tan in the shape of a ring, but he didn't mention it. Probably pawned with the economy around here.

"Cash, please," he said in response instead, reaching into his back pocket with two fingers to draw out the thin wallet. Never credit cards, those left traces. Working for himself, odd jobs here and there - it left what had once been a chubby length of leather almost pitifully bare. A man who had once been in one of the most feared organisations now had to wander, faceless, in shadow, but it wasn't something that particularly bothered him.

"Have a good day," he said politely as he gathered the plastic handles into callused hands, but she grunted and started swiping toilet paper for the frazzled mother and her snot-nosed kid behind him. Though there were only about 800 people in town, Wes hadn't bothered to make the most of his almost two week tenure, not that there was much to party up in with the single strip of a "main street". A liquor and grocery, a one-screened movie theatre that showed things that came out a decade ago, a dentist office, a handful of "mom and pop" shops that desperately fought to keep the WalMart from encroaching on the big empty lot near the football field...one would hardly expect that, in a town like this, monsters would make their home.

His apartment was above one of those shoddy mom and pop places, which was, unsurprisingly, devoid of life. There wasn't much in the way of tourism around here, just farms and alcoholics. The owner, Ms. Needles, an ancient widow, was probably napping in the back, so he didn't bother waking her. After her surgery, the one she loved to tell him about, she needed all the rest she could get.

He needed it too, for tonight, but he put his groceries in his smelly mini-fridge. He was lucky she had not tried to clean his room again while he was out, or she may have found the rifle hidden lazily behind the curtain, and who knew what he would have to do then.



Every place, even a small town, changes at night. Tonight was no different - the local Wildcats were playing the Panthers, and the bright field lights could probably be seen from the space station. Even with the clouds hanging moodily overhead, obscuring the moon and stars, he felt uncomfortable, but could not stay any longer. He had dragged out his time here as much as he could, observing, figuring out the niche places to hide, and there was nothing. Whatever his source had told him, it was a lie. The only Talent there was around here to find was a young man, high school age, who didn't even seem to be aware of he could do fully, and so Wes left him wholly alone - that wasn't his department and he didn't particularly care. Sure, he had checked him out, just in case somehow this bemused C-average meathead was some Prince of Darkness, and in some sick we he had hoped he was to justify all the time he spent learning this shithole back to front, but it was all for naught.

His bag was pretty much packed, yet he still kept pacing around the room, looking out that window and taking sips from the bottle of water he had bought earlier, picking through some "salad" his hostess had so graciously brought him that was more ranch dressing with a side of lettuce and tomato. He had told her he was an author working on a small-town murder mystery, the only way he could justify hanging around without getting a job; he had promised that yes, he would somehow write her into his book. Tomorrow morning he'd have to take out whatever little he had at the bank to get the bus to a Greyhound station to...wherever next. He'd e-mailed his source with more than a little profanity at this waste of his time, but there was no response, and now he was at the mercy of having to wait until they found something for him. On his limited resources, there wasn't much he could do alone.

There was a knock on his door, and he paused, the nerves in his body screaming like millions of tiny live wires. Ms. Needles had made it extremely clear that she would be going to the game to watch her grandson, and certainly no one would rob a dying business that paid out more than it brought in. Those few seconds of distraction were enough for a bullet to fly through the flimsy wood of the door and lodge itself into the wall.

Instantly on the ground, Wes was about to go for his own rifle when the door burst open and two formless people stepped inside. Two Disciples, it was worth noting, and Wes couldn't help but almost laugh at his own mistake. A trap? He had been working with that damn source for almost two years and they hadn't led him astray, unless somehow they had been found out or hacked. No wonder the responses lately had been so short, vague, or non-existent. And what an elaborate trap, too,

"Wesley Lan," one of them said in a dead voice, a female one. He didn't recognise it, but then again, half the Disciples sounded the same to him; maybe it was that hive-minded sense of purpose he could never stand. It was fair enough, anyways, the possibility that sending one of his old "friends" would end up with them being too emotionally attached to kill him (which was a joke, they had all hated one another), but Wes suspected that this was some kind of test.

He stood up, backed up, forgetting about his rifle as he back up towards the bed.

"You caught me," he said, doing his best to sound convincingly worried, but like most times, there was still some kind of laughing smile in his voice. "So what do you want to do to me?" As he said it, he sat on the bed, raising his eyebrows suggestively alongside the question. Though he could not see her face, he suspected that neither she nor her companion were impressed.

"You will come with us," said the other figure, a male, much taller than Wesley. "You will answer for your crimes."

Wesley put down his hands, sighed; from their vantage, they could not fully see his hand slipping under the cheap mattress for his khukuri. It had to be a test - that was a rookie mistake.

"And what makes you think I want to come? You always served terrible food," he said admonishingly, the heft of the blade in his hand reassuring.

"Do not show resistance and we will not harm you. We are armed." She was approaching him, arm outstretched with some small gun lodged firmly between her fingers.

He got up (quickly, too quickly) and brought down the blade with full force into the softer flesh of her elbow. There was an awful noise before her forearm hit the ground, and she screamed in pain as Wes ducked as the man fired his own gun. Grabbing the one in the hand of the severed forearm, he quickly brought his head up and shot it out of his fingers. The man howled and held his damaged hand.

"Armed? Are you sure?" he asked the girl, unable to resist; she had sat down on the edge of the bed in shock, trying to stem the flow of blood. She wouldn't last long with a wound like that, so he kept his focus on the man, still pointing the gun. "You, buddy, are going to get the hell out of here unless you want to end up like her. Then you're going to back to where you came from and tell that asshole Snyder to leave me alone."

The man, breathing heavily, let out a yell at that and charged forwards; Wes neatly scampered up the wall and allowed him to almost crash into the wall before he swung his legs down heavily and kicked him in the back of the head, knocking him unconscious.

Dropping from his perch, he sighed and put his hands on his hips, deliberating what to do next. He wasn't sure if anyone else was out there now, but considering that there was a Talent besides him in the area, he had to suspect so - obviously they had been hiding themselves quite well, or he hadn't been looking hard enough. Still, wouldn't it be worth it to stay a few more days, just in case? He found himself smiling despite the situation.

But first, how would he explain this mess to poor Ms. Needles?

Nemo was resting on a park bench, looking off into the waters of the Chicago bay. The rain had let up but he still held up his umbrella with one hand to guard himself from the drizzle, the other brought a cup of hot tea to his lips to take a sip. Nemo didn't like hot things, but when it came to food he often made exceptions.

Not all things last however, Nemo's dark and quiet view of the placid bay was interrupted by his manadial signaling he had received a message. He set his cup of tea down to view the new message. He was surprise to see it was from Felix, and even more pleasantly surprised to read what it was about.

Seems my work tonight is not yet done. Nemo thought, finishing his tea and raising up from the bench.

---

About an hour had passed for Nemo, getting to new locations wasn't as easy for Nemo as it was for Felix, however he always found the experience entertaining. He was in Wisconsin now, a rural town, not much to look at. Even for somebody like Nemo he had a hard time finding something to please his eyes with.

This feeling of non-excitement soon subsided when Nemo found what he was looking for: Needles General Store or more specifically, the small apartment area above it. He entered the building and got a better look at it, the store portion of it was dark and unattended at this time of night, leaving only the rest area and staircase up to the apartments available to him. Nemo proceeded up the stairs, his black boots making an audible click as his heels connected with each step of the wooden staircase.

Nemo wasn't sure what he was looking for, he didn't feel any substantial manawaves from any living thing in the complex. However Felix had never been wrong before, and Nemo doubted that he was led here for nothing, despite how much of a no-man's land this place felt like. Before he could think another boring thought, Nemo was alerted by what sounded like gunfire from a small gun akin to a derringer, followed by another shot. He followed the sounds to it's source. He was already sure it was the correct room judging by the smell of blood permeating out from it. Nemo pushed the door open and idly stood in the doorway.

"My oh my, you've really gone to town on these two haven't you..." Nemo commented after scouting out the room.

He stepped inside, closing the door behind him and keeping his stance rather calm and passive to not alarm the man into another attack. "You must be Wesley." Nemo said to the man still standing. He got a better look at the wounded attackers now, no doubt witch-hunters. Which also gave Nemo a good idea as to what the remaining man was, and why he had a hard time detecting him earlier.

Nemo's own pale white skin, white hair, and ghastly white eyes should give Wesley a hint that he wasn't with the two witch hunters. No normal human could look that way, and no normal witch-hunter would work with him either.

Before speaking to him any further, the sight of the fore-arm-less hunter had diverted his attention. "Oh, that's just tragic." Nemo noted out-loud as he stepped over to her. He bent over and picked up the forearm from the ground. "Shame." Nemo added as he examined the severed appendage. His so far calm demeanor suddenly broke out into a grin. "You know, times like this make me wonder about you people." Nemo addressed her. Despite not seeing her face, the body language they were giving off hinted him to her state. She was barely holding on to consciousness. "You're bleeding out, without medical attention you're going to die. And that doesn't even cover the arm. You'll have to learn to live without that. What do you think the Disciples are gonna think about that? Think they have any use for a hunter without their best arm? What, are you going to jam a silver tipped spike into that sucker and call it good?" He asked, ending it with a small chuckle.

"But I, I could fix all that for you. For someone like me, putting that arm back on is easy peasy, lemon squeezy... But what I'm wondering about, what I'm so curious to know, is if you'll let me. Will you, a witch hunter, let me, the very thing you hunt, help you?" Nemo asked, getting to the point of his exposition. He humorously extended her own forearm out for a handshake. "What do ya say, partner?"

Well, the night wasn't over yet - not once an overwhelmingly strong mana pool almost set Wes' body to tingling, and that for sure had to be new; he would have noticed that in an instant. It couldn't be the kid, unless his joking suspicion of him somehow being this terrible creature was correct, but even then, wasn't there a football game happening right now? And what, to these simple-minded folk, could be more important than football? Not him, that he was certain of. It was close by. In fact, it was probably right outside the door. Wes was surprised for the second time that night - there probably was not enough time to prepare and orchestrate for a counter-attack of some kind before that person came through the door, so instead he lamely spun on his heel to face whomever - whatever - was about to come through that door.

Someone needs some melanin, was the first thought that crossed his mind, and it was true. This guy put Jack Frost to shame with his face, and the white eyes were especially disconcerting. Wes' fingers tightened around the gun he was holding, his blade having been abandoned when he had ducked to get it. Now it felt more like a toy wedged between his fingers, and he doubted it would do much at all.

When his name was spoken, he had a hilarious moment of doubt that this guy was somehow related to the Disciples, and that somehow they had finally decided to go against their own doctrine; it passed quickly, but still, this guy somehow knew. Wes did not believe he was that infamous, since he did his best not to be. Unless this guy somehow was on a revenge trip for one of Wes' previous targets, had somehow traced the bullet in a skull back to him and then managed to follow his multiple and quick movements...that was a possibility too. But he stayed his hand for now - unless this guy gave him a reason to attack, revealed himself as an immediate threat, he wasn't going to put himself in a more dangerous situation. He didn't lower the gun, but he did release his finger's slight press against the trigger.

Before he had the chance to make a response, the man seemed to take an interest in the arm on the floor. So much so, in fact, that his face broke into a wide grin, throwing Wes off slightly. Well, at least someone was having fun with the situation so far. He still kept the gun trained on his new arrival and swallowed heavily as he spoke to the Hunter who was still sitting on the bed, her own biology rebelling against her as the shock, pain, and obvious blood loss caused her to rock slightly as she clung to trying to stay awake. She obviously knew the moment she let herself fall into unconsciousness, that was the end for her.

Wes was more interested in the moral dilemma this stranger had provided. He had seen situations like this before, but in reverse - cornered Talents promising Hunters power, fame, fortune, whatever they thought most likely to get them out of there whole or at least alive - but he had never seen any of them take it. Then again, the Hunters were never the ones in danger, especially if there were two or three of them up against even a terribly powerful Talent. Did he feel guilty for what he had done to her? Not particularly, since she had probably done far worse to plenty of perfectly innocent people - people, not just Talents, they were humans first.

The Hunter was having very different thoughts. She could hardly hear what the man was saying, but at that moment, anything that promised to take away the suffering was extremely appealing, and he was right - if she lived and went back as a cripple, what would they think of her then? Defeated by an ex-Disciple, humiliated in front of her peer? It wasn't like they would offer her the Talent this guy would, to fix her - she would become an exile too, but not an honourable one. If anything, maybe her own brothers and sisters would turn on her. And would they know? If he did it right, would anyone know? In a second, she could turn back the tables against these two and return home with a powerful Talent and the traitor's heads without even looking scratched. What was there to be lost for her?

Maybe it was the blood loss, but she did trust this man, and thus she mustered the strength she had left and muttered "please, yes."

Wes couldn't help it; he briefly giggled aloud. Though the situation wasn't that funny, more barbaric than anything, this supposed proud Hunter, who would take death before the hand of a Talent, was reduced to a begging mess. Fuck it, it was funny. Whether she lived or died now, it would be in absolute shame, and what would whatever gods she had think of that?

The hunter's response seemed to tickle Nemo even more than it tickled Wes. "I thought you might say that." He commented before giving her a comforting smile. "I would of done the same, if I was in your position. But then again, I'm not... If you aren't willing to die for your cause, then what purpose does being part of a organization who puts you in mortal danger serve?" Nemo asked. "You serve the cause... but it doesn't serve you does it?"

Nemo grasped her arm right behind where it had been severed and held up the other part next to it. White strands of pure mana began to generate between the two wounds. "I must warn you, my threads aren't the most comfortable way to heal, but I think you're a bit more uncomfortable in this state anyways." He explained. The glowing threads connected with the other half and suddenly pulled the arm back together. Afterwards hundreds more threads began to generate, rapidly sewing the arm back in to place, nerve by nerve. In the beginning it would hurt, but eventually dull to a slightly pleasant warm feeling.

The whole ordeal took about twenty seconds before Nemo leaned back from the bed, finished. The arm looked good as new, not even leaving a scar after the threads faded away. The only thing which remained was a sore feeling where the wound used to be which would fade in a couple days. Nemo couldn't do anything about the blood loss, she no doubt felt much better, but still weak from what they already lost. "There, good as new, huh?" Nemo spoke, satisfied with his handiwork. He noticed he had amassed some blood on his un-gloved left hand, which prompted him to raise his palm out to his mouth, and lick the blood off with his tongue. After a few moments of contemplation, his expression hinted that the taste was pleasing to him.

Nemo washed his hands off at Wes' sink before taking his coat off and placing it on a hanger. The action seemed tedious, as the rain coat soon disappeared back to his mana-inventory after he left it. This revealed the silver engraved cowboy revolver resting in the embossed holster on his hip. Nemo took a seat on a chair in the room and let out a sigh.

"So what's going on here? What's all this roughhousing about?" Nemo asked nonchalantly despite the situation, not directing the question towards any of two in particular. He looked to the female hunter. "Oh, and take that stuff off your head, I'd like to know what who I'm dealing with looks like. I know this one is Wesley, but I don't know your name."

As Felix slipped into unconsciousness a familiar voice began to speak,

"It is time for one more to join the fold, Felix." A vision of a brown haired freckled male appeared before him. When Felix awoke he was writing at his desk beside his bed. The name he had written was Wesley Lan. The location was Wisconsin, Small Town. The name of the town didn't seem like a real name, it was almost like a fake name, like someone didn't even bother to look up the name of a real Wisconsin town because they didn't think it mattered. Well! It mattered to Felix dammit! It mattered to Felix...

After looking the piece of parchment with the name over a bit, Felix decided to send the information over to Nemo and allow him to take it from there. He used his manadial to send a message with all the necessary information, then he went back to sleep.

"Mana...dial?" Travis sounded unsure what Raiya was talking about for a mere moment, almost as if the device she spoke of and even demonstrated before him was like an alien concept. Simple-minded curiosity drove him to investigate his many pockets of his attire, feeling around them until finally retrieving his own manadial Felix had given him before. With an annoyed groan, Travis grasped his face with his right hand, "Ah, jeez...I completely forgot about this thing. I'm clearly working more than I should be..."

The Untalent sighed and arose from his seat upon hearing Felix's brief announcement of the and his retiring for the day. Considering the circumstances he too was due for some proper rest himself. While Zoey's elixir was proving invaluable recovering his strained stamina, he nonetheless heeded her warning regarding its side-effects to that of a simple energy drink. A game of simulated target practice seemed appealing but Travis rather he recuperate his health for tomorrow, assuming They finally get a bead on their next Paragon. Besides, he was becoming oddly irritable towards anything of circular design, even of his own making.

In Wes' short life, he had learned that if things could get weirder, they very often would. He had expected to leave here alone, making his merry way to whatever was next, but now this guy was barging in and asking questions like he was the one that deserved answers. It was baffling, but Wes didn't find himself irritated by it. He had, after all, been waiting for something to happen, and it had landed right in his lap like a tiny gift from heaven.

What he was less jazzed about was the fact that this newcomer here was helping out the lady he had just gone through all the effort to get rid of, and that it seemed to be working. Though she made some obvious noises of discomfort, the magic slowly stitched her arm back together like she was a doll. It was rather grotesque, but fascinating to watch all the same; this was the kind of thing Wes had missed out on during his upbringing, for sure. The blood-licking was kind of nasty, but he had seen worse.

"From the way you seem, I'm sure you know what it's like to be a wanted man," said Wes, now uncertain about who to aim the gun at. The woman was still taking her time after her recovery, but he had no doubt in his mind that she was thinking something nefarious for herself - or was she? She had already chickened out on the arm, so who was to say she wasn't going to on actually going through with what she was here to do? At his feet, however, the man was stirring, and Wes gently placed his foot on the back of his head, not yet applying pressure, but enough to make his presence clear. "I was minding my own business until these two came along, and now you, Mr....? You here for me, too?"

The woman, now over the brief moments of pain and regaining some of her sanity, suddenly decided it was a good time to regain some of her courage.

"Wesley Lan is a wanted man by the Disciples," she said stiffly, though her voice was hoarse. "You will not get involved." She was too weak to lift any limbs, but she had to immobilize the new threat in case he somehow took his own revenge upon Wesley, and so she focused her mana hard, trying to neutralise that of Nemo and Wes. She, too, could see the stirring of her partner - it was only a matter of time before he came to as well and helped her level the playing field.

Nemo seemed relaxed in his seat, he rolled his fingers on armrest of the chair. "Not the most thrilling explanation, but I think I got it now." Nemo noted with a chuckle. "Nemo Smiley, and yes, I'm here for you. But I'm not here to hurt you, I have a proposition for you. Though that will have to wait until our company leaves." Explained Nemo.

"Wanted? Me? Well you caught me there, I'm wanted by most well-known factions. Organizations and me don't seem to get along. Though every once in a while even the most pious groups call to me for assistance in their problems. Most people consider me an assassin, but that's not true, I'm a problem solver, and an artist in his craft. It just so happens that the problem people are often interested in having me solve is the problem of somebody else's heart beating." Nemo looked to the side back to the female hunter. "I often find once the job is done, and they no longer need me, they appreciate me no longer as well."

Nemo seemed to be irritated by her lack of formalities. "I'm sorry nameless girl, how very rude of me to interrupt your buisness. But if I'm recalling right, if I didn't get 'involved' you'd be currently bleeding out without prayer or a forearm. I'm detecting a distinct lack of gratitude in your voice. When someone is good to you, and you're not good to them back... bad things happen. That's easy enough for anybody to understand." Nemo spoke with a sarcastic tone in the beginning, which faded to seriousness. "As long as you play nice, I'll let both you and your plus one here to walk out of this building. But if you intend on getting in my way, I'll slice off both your arms and hang you by that ceiling fan, and the last thing you'll see is the inside of this crummy apartment." Nemo threatened.

Another bolt of magic flew straight towards Alya, the dark purple bolt energy quickly whizzing towards her. She struck downwards at the magical bolt with the front of her staff as it approached, akin to someone swatting a fly out of the air. As the staff hit the bolt the staff's runes briefly glowed a more intense shade of blue as the bolt was deflected down into the green grass; the area where the magical bolt quickly drained of color as the grass withered.

Alya let herself have a brief smile at her progress as she brought the grass back to life as she had done countless times already this day. She stood in a small clearing surrounded by several trees not too far from the group's house. She had been spending the past few days here working on applying reflection spells to a magical barrier. She knew it was one thing to block and absorb a magical attack, but being able to redirect spells was quite a bit more complex; usually it required proper timing and being quick to cast. Being able to incorporate this to a magical barrier would be very beneficial to the combat effectiveness of herself and her allies.

The sound of an owl hooting pulled Alya away from her thoughts; it was getting late. She quickly dispelled the rune she had placed on a nearby tree which was what she had been using to launch the magical attacks at herself then began to walk back towards the house, her staff disappearing back to her mana-inventory as she reached the small trail leading back to the group's secluded hideout. "It shouldn't take more than a minute or so to get back." She mumbled to herself.